


across the dancefloor

by ohclare



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 16:54:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,391
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/737966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohclare/pseuds/ohclare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>London 1816. The war in France is over, the season is about to begin and romances are about to start</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Announcements I

**Author's Note:**

> started off as a collection of drabbles, turned into a full on fic. 
> 
> names etc may be a little confusing i suspect so use the family tree i knocked up as a reference (http://www.familyecho.com/?p=PJZ3S&c=w5kqxjg1ub&f=386012628133842764) if needed or just ask. the most important thing is that Jon was raised as Robert and Lyanna's child (even if she was publicly Rhaegar's mistress) everything else should be reasonably obvious.

Lady S.S. and Lady M.B. are the two most eligible debutantes this season, especially for gentlemen wishing to marry a girl from a rich titled family.

Amongst those returning from France is Marquess L. who is expected to be actively looking for a wife and is the finest catch this season. Lord R.B. and Lord B.S. are also good catches despite a lack of title.

Earl M. is believed to be looking for a wife which must be the reason why Duchess H. is in London despite having no more daughters to marry off.

Marquess R. has recently returned from India with a bride, their balls will not be ones to turn an invitation down to.

It is believed that at least one of the royal princes may be marrying an English girl so keep a firm look out for them at all events in order to make a good impression.


	2. One

Feburary 1816

* * *

 

Sansa wasn’t sure whether she’d ever been so nervous in her entire life. In a few short hours she was going to meet the Queen and her fate would be decided. It was no use Mother telling her that she would only meet the Queen for a few short moments and honestly it wouldn’t matter if she fell over her own feet she couldn’t believe her, did she not realise how everyone else would judge her even if the Queen didn’t. She had no intention of channelling Arya for the day even it would help her worry less.

It helped that her dress was one of the prettiest things she’d ever worn, it was very different to all of her other dresses but it made her think of the sorts of dresses they used to wear years and years ago. (She couldn’t help but wonder why hoops weren’t in fashion any more when they looked so pretty.) But really her favourite bit was the hundreds of pink satin roses sown all over the plain white silk, roses that she could still barely believe that Mother had agreed to. She just hoped that no one else would have as pretty a dress as she did, at least then it might not matter so much if she made a fool out of herself.

* * *

 

Myrcella had no such fears, she was confident that she was going to swan in and win everyone over in two seconds flat. Her mother had been the most beautiful and desired lady the season she had come out and so had been her sister-in-law, therefore with two such instructors there was no way she was going to fail. Plus she had heard that the King was looking for a wife for Prince Aegon and she was fully confident that she was going to win that title, just imagine what beautiful blonde children they would have after all.

Her only concern was that her mother wasn’t actually going to be there, she hadn’t left her rooms since Joffrey’s funeral after all, and perhaps it looked a little bad to be presented at court by your sister-in-law rather than your mother? However it did mean that Margaery was the one to pick out her dress and she did have infinitely better fashion sense than Mother or herself.

* * *

 

There were more people than Sansa had expected at the palace, somehow she had thought that there would be perhaps ten in addition to the Queen and her attendants but there was nearer to forty and she shuddered at the thought of embarrassing herself in front of all of them.

“Don’t worry my darling,” she heard Mother whisper to her quietly, “you will be perfect.”

Sansa couldn’t agree but she did not have time to reply before a footman lead them towards where the Queen was sitting with a woman who must be the Princess Daenerys and a dark haired woman she assumed to be Lady Ashara Hightower.

“Your majesty, I present to you the Lady Sansa Stark, sponsored by her mother the Duchess of Winterfell.”

Sansa barely registered the polite smile and few words of greeting the Queen uttered as she rose from her curtsy before her mother took her arm and carefully steered her away.

“Was that it? Did I do okay?” she asked as they took a seat.

“You did perfectly.”

* * *

 

Myrcella knew that Margaery was worried that she wasn’t going to be behave in the right way by the way she repeated every piece of advice she’d ever given her in the carriage on the way over to the Palace. It actually made her quite upset that she thought that she’d throw away her future because she was too lazy to learn some simple courtesies. In fact she knew that in the future she’d have to be very good at her courtesies so this would be an excellent learning experience.

The actual presentation was deathly boring it turned out, she didn’t have a chance to say a word to the Queen and so she simply had to hope that her brightest smile and best curtsy would have imprinted a good impression on her. Margaery seemed pleased at least.

She had been expecting for them to leave almost straight away now they’d seen the Queen but instead they were moving towards a woman and girl she vaguely recognized.

“Your Grace may I introduce you to my sister-in-law Lady Myrcella Baratheon,” Margaery said with a smile that told Myrcella that she was to curtsy immediately.

“My pleasure, may I introduce you to my daughter Lady Sansa Stark.” And the red headed girl curtsied too. She wasn’t ashamed to say that her curtsy probably was a lot better than her own, especially since she seemed shy too. “Please join us.”

Myrcella wasn’t surprised when Margaery immediately ignored her in favour of talking to the older woman; Jon’s mother had been a Stark after all.

“Have you been to London before?” the other girl asked her instantly.

“Oh yes, we live here most of the time. It’s only during the summer that we go to the country, Mother hates the country.”

“Father is normally in town when Parliament sits but Mother prefers the country, I think I may do too.”

“You haven’t been here long; once you get to know London you’ll love it. Once you’ve been to a few balls and visited the park a few times you’ll change your mind.”

“Robb, I mean my brother the Earl of Wolfswood says that too but I always assumed that was because men liked town and women didn’t.”

“Absolute nonsense. Most of the women I know love town, while my little brother hates it and he’s practically a man.”

“Oh.”

“Oh indeed. And if you excuse me I believe my sister wishes me to meet some more ladies by the way she’s looking at me, but I hope we shall meet again.”

And with a grin Myrcella almost leapt up (but not quite because she was a lady after all) and left her newly made friend behind without another word.

* * *

 

“Did you like her Sansa?” Mother asked

“I think so,” it was hard to tell from such a short conversation she felt, “she was a little odd but in a nice way. Are they coming to my ball?”

“Of course, her brother is your cousin after all.”

She couldn’t help but smile at that, perhaps when she was on home ground she’d feel more confident.

* * *

 

“What did you think?” Elia asked softly once everyone had left and she was safely alone with her sister-in-law and dearest friend.

“They’re both pretty enough, but I’m not sure either would be right for Prince Aegon.” Ashara told her honestly. “The Winterfell girl seemed too shy to be able to deal with the pressures of being Queen although perhaps she would be good at dealing with Viserys’ moods. Whereas the Storms End girl would never bother to listen to you if she’s anything like her mother.”

Dany grinned, “I prefer Lady Sansa just because her colouring is better suited to Aegon’s.” Elia simply needed to raise her eyebrows for her to become instantly more serious. “I couldn’t tell you when we’ve seen them for less than a minute.”

“Perhaps you should attend a few balls with your nephew and brother then,” Elia told her with a smile, “and report to me afterwards.”


End file.
